a couple of years ago i put out 2 caches on Jamie’s Pond property in Manchester/Hallowell thinking as there were other caches there i could do the same, but you know what they say about assuming! unfortunately, the caches had to be archived after talking with a very pleasant guy from DIF - apparently the issue with geocaching is “storing” personal property on their land, much like leaving behind boats or tree stands is disallowed.

for the last 6 months i’ve been eyeing this new trail, but noticed DIF owns the land - although this new access trail has no caches, there are a number of them on the same property which are accessed from a different trail system. i prefer not to identify the area or caches, but the caches are anywhere from 1 ˝ to 5 years old. checked DIF's extensive website, but still do not see geocaching even mentioned there.

i’m wondering: does each separate property have different use guidelines or is there a blanket policy governing all DIF lands? were the guidelines changed at some point and older caches grandfathered? is it worth asking for permission again now that some time has gone by? anyone have previous experience with or currently working with TPTB?

a couple of years ago i put out 2 caches on Jamie’s Pond property in Manchester/Hallowell thinking as there were other caches there i could do the same, but you know what they say about assuming! unfortunately, the caches had to be archived after talking with a very pleasant guy from DIF - apparently the issue with geocaching is “storing” personal property on their land, much like leaving behind boats or tree stands is disallowed.

for the last 6 months i’ve been eyeing this new trail, but noticed DIF owns the land - although this new access trail has no caches, there are a number of them on the same property which are accessed from a different trail system. i prefer not to identify the area or caches, but the caches are anywhere from 1 ˝ to 5 years old. checked DIF's extensive website, but still do not see geocaching even mentioned there.

i’m wondering: does each separate property have different use guidelines or is there a blanket policy governing all DIF lands? were the guidelines changed at some point and older caches grandfathered? is it worth asking for permission again now that some time has gone by? anyone have previous experience with or currently working with TPTB?

thanks in advance for any thoughts/ideas!

As with the placing of any caches, I think it is a wise idea if at all possible to get permission first. I don't think that there is a policy regarding placing caches on any DIF lands and the caches that are placed am sure were placed without permission but I could be wrong. I'm surprised that no one from Maine ( I now live in Georgia ) has chimed in here yet regarding this.

As being one of the original members here in the forum and having been on the original steering committee that was one of the first items we considered was being good stewards and trying to come up with some sort of policy and work with local agencies regarding the placing of caches on many of the state lands. Unfortunately we never did come up with or try to work with any of the agencies and I would have hoped that could have been accomplished by now. All it takes is one bad apple to spoil it for the rest. If in doubt about placing any caches just do the best to get permission 1st if at all possible. May be other members of this forum will come forward and maybe give you different advice but this is what I would do. Haffy

JustKev

05-09-2012, 08:47 PM

Haffy, as much as I agree with what you're saying being good stewards of the sport would only work with members of this forum or of the facebook pages from Maine. Getting word out to those who only have a membership on gc.com and just go out and randomly place caches would be difficult, at best, and impossible, at worst. With more and more new cachers, especially those who think they're going to love doing this and then rush out to place a cache then just fade away are the ones who are going to be the worst to get the word out to.

Once again, I agree fully with with you're saying just can't see a simple yet fool-proof method to implement it.

Haffy

05-10-2012, 10:29 AM

Haffy, as much as I agree with what you're saying being good stewards of the sport would only work with members of this forum or of the facebook pages from Maine. Getting word out to those who only have a membership on gc.com and just go out and randomly place caches would be difficult, at best, and impossible, at worst. With more and more new cachers, especially those who think they're going to love doing this and then rush out to place a cache then just fade away are the ones who are going to be the worst to get the word out to.

Once again, I agree fully with with you're saying just can't see a simple yet fool-proof method to implement it.

I don't disagree with you Kev but you have to start somewhere. How about starting with the state park system and setting something up with them? There are many states now who have been working closely with geocaching organizations within their own state and now have programs instituted that are drawing people and families to their state parks and generating revenue that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

JustKev

05-10-2012, 07:09 PM

Agreed there too, Haffy. Seems like everytime it gets talked about it fizzles out before anyone does anything, though.

BigFury and DaBaby

05-11-2012, 12:58 AM

...Seems like everytime it gets talked about it fizzles out before anyone does anything, though.

i can see why, though - soooo time-consuming and difficult learning how to play the game of "Bureaucracy"...

at this point not sure if i really want to pursue the matter with the Inland Fisheries folks again (for some reason i keep hearing my Dad’s voice: “I already said no! How many times do I have to tell you?” LOL).

btw, forgot to mention that the same guy i spoke with in 2010 (why, oh why didn’t i write down his name?) did seem open to further discussion of Earthcaches on their properties, so anyone with those skills/knowledge might be interested in doing that...